My 1.5 Yr Old Has Very High Fever

Updated on
June 19, 2010

V.G.
asks from
San Jose, CA
on June 15, 2010

15
answers

Hi All,

My daughter is 17 months. She was perfectly fine till yesterday evening when I brought her from day care in the evening, she seemed very hot. I thought its because of the weather. But then she was very fussy. We checked her fever and it was 103. We kept giving her tylenol regularly all through the night but the whole night her fever was mostly high sometimes normal. Today we showed her to doc and since she could not diagnose anything else she said it should be roseola. Has anyone experienced this before for their baby. Can you share your experience?

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P.G.

answers from
Tulsa
on
June 16, 2010

Fevers tend to rise at night.....don't know why. Just keep giving her the Tylenol or Motrin.....whatever. You can also bathe her with a cool cloth to help cool her off, or a lukewarm bath. It cools the body some, and it is easier to keep a temp. down than to get it down.

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A.C.

answers from
Seattle
on
June 15, 2010

My daughter always get high fevers when she gets sick. I scares me to death!! Every time I take her in the docs just tell me it is a virus and to give tylenol and motrin. And to come back if she gets worse or is not better in a couple of days.

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A.V.

answers from
Oklahoma City
on
June 15, 2010

All three of mine have had roseola, I had them at the doc the 2nd day the fever was high (104) He did all the tests and said that everything looked fine. Wait for about three days, the fever will go down and then they will get a rash. He was right! Kids don't really act like they are sick when they have roseola, and you can't get the fever to stay down, even with meds. (I still would give tylenol.)
Good Luck!
A.

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M.W.

answers from
Des Moines
on
June 15, 2010

my 2 yr old son experienced 105.3 degrees of fever in January. Doctors diagnosed it as a viral.it wasnt coming down for 3 days and we were beginning to get concerned.My husband himself being a doctor was also now worried.then suddenly the 4th day it tuched down to 99. we knew he will be fine now. We gave him azithromycin and crocin and loads and loads of liquids. he didnt eat anything at all for 4 days and would also throwup his medicines. but we didnt give up. apart from good medical advise u need loads of patience and belief. It very painful to see your baby in discomfort...be a rocking support by the child, she will be fine. God bless her!!

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P.G.

answers from
Tulsa
on
June 16, 2010

Fevers tend to rise at night.....don't know why. Just keep giving her the Tylenol or Motrin.....whatever. You can also bathe her with a cool cloth to help cool her off, or a lukewarm bath. It cools the body some, and it is easier to keep a temp. down than to get it down.

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G.B.

answers from
Boise
on
June 16, 2010

My DD had 103-105 temp- I was told 3 times it was a local virus- turns out it was a urinary tract infection that had moved into the kidneys -which is an emergency.
signs:
sleepy or sleeping a lot
not eating
not playing
no energy/ not really talking
bile on pillow (possibly)
possible potty accidents, may not make it bathroom in time, notice need to potty but cant, or tries to go frequently.
off smell to the urine

If it goes undiagnosed, shock can set in, shock symptoms are:

dark circles under eyes, sunken in
blue lips
hallucinating

DO NOT give bibble baths- which cause uti's when the child pees in the bath. It opens the eurethra and bacteria climb up the tube into the bladder.

Dosing with tylenol makes symptoms dissapear (falsly) and will lead you to beleive she is not as sick as she is.

If she is not diagnosed within 2-3 days of start of fever and it still remains high- you should ask for blood testing / or could consider a night time hospital visit, where they will run the necessary tests that most clinic doctors wont .

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M.S.

answers from
San Francisco
on
June 16, 2010

Yes, a fever without any other symptoms is most likely Roseola (or we know it as "slap cheek virus.") My daughter had it, and after two-three days of high temp., the rash appeared. Kind of scary to have such a high fever with NO other symptoms, except for maybe lack of appetite. Keep your eye open for any rash, then you'll know definitively. Good luck!

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J.M.

answers from
San Francisco
on
June 16, 2010

We dealt with roseola this past winter. Unfortunately, you won't know whether it's actually roseola until the fever breaks. Right after it breaks, your baby will get a flat, red rash that looks awful but does not itch or bother them. We treated the fever with Tylenol and yeah, it doesn't do a whole lot to help. The good news is that it is only a couple of days and then they feel a lot better. Good luck.

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D.P.

answers from
Gainesville
on
June 16, 2010

yes i can honestly say i am going through it right now.its not fun.my ped said rotate tylenol and mortin every 4 hours,give luke warm baths.try fever cool patches they sell them at walmart or even a cool washcloth.if you can let her be in just a diaper the whole time heat makes it worse.If you need more info about it you can look it up and send me a message.hope this helps

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D.W.

answers from
Indianapolis
on
June 16, 2010

Our son had roseola when he was a baby. It wasn't a bad experience. We just had no idea what was going on as first time parents.

My best advice to you should anything like this happen again with a fever that high is not to be afraid to call the Pediatrician "On-call" and ask their advice. Physicians usually rotate "call" with their partners and other doctors, and they expect to be interrupted while on call for emergency issues.

Febrile seizures can result when fevers spike that high, so I personally don't have a problem calling our pediatrician (my nephew had a febrile seizure around that age). Even if they just say to give Tylenol/ibuprofen, monitor and see them in the morning, it's better than playing it safe and ending-up in the ER.

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M.C.

answers from
San Francisco
on
June 16, 2010

Hello,

My daughter never had Roseloa however she would get fevers as well, I took her to the doc and they said the same thing. They told me she may get spots within a couple of days. She did not. What I discovered is she gets fevers when she is teething. I have twins and they act differently when they are teething. I would switch from tylenol and mortin.

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C.D.

answers from
San Francisco
on
June 16, 2010

Roseola is not so bad of a disease, you will know it is that when you see the rash on her face and chest. In my family right now my 2 young boys both have HFMD (hand foot, mouth disease) which started with a high fever 103 for both, then broke in like 24 hours, then a rash on the bottom, and rash on hands and feet, and in and around mouth the next day. It has been going around, and I live in Santa Cruz, not far from you so it may be that. Not really anything you can do for either illness except give tylenol for pain/fever relief. Roseola was mellow in that besides the fever making the kid tired and cranky, once the fever broke the kids did not seem sick

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A.A.

answers from
San Francisco
on
June 19, 2010

As a mom of 3 and a pediatric nurse, yes it could be roseola. roseola is different than slapped cheek fever. Roseola is related to the measles virus, is not life threatening, usually occurs in children under 3 years. Children get a fairly high fever for a day or 2 and the fever leaves and the child gets a red pin dot rash from head to toe for a few days.
Slapped cheek is also known as fifths disease because it was the 5th measle like illness. Children with 5ths have a moderate fever and bright red cheeks for a couple of days, then a lacey red rash develops on the body from the neck down. It is not life threatening and is self limiting.

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T.V.

answers from
San Francisco
on
June 17, 2010

Dear V.,

Just checking to see if your baby is better today. Those high temps are really scary and can be serious, I'm glad you had the doc take a look. Did he/she mention a cool/lukewarm bath might give her some comfort?